Guardian Hunter
by TheWritingSiblings
Summary: A survivor, a hunter and a partnership no one has ever thought could occur in a world of infected. What will this new found friendship bring into the living and undead world? Cover photo is by this wonderful artist at DeviantArt, please check his page out. His name is Dangem, just search for him at the site since I can't put up the link here.
1. The Beginning

Guardian Hunter

Cover photo is by this wonderful artist at DeviantArt, please check his page out: His name is Dangem (I can't put the link here, just search him in the site)

It has followed me for nearly an hour now. Watching from afar, when I try to scare it off with a round from my shotgun, it'll run away but after a few minutes, it's back again. It has always kept its distance, I couldn't bring myself to just kill it, it wasn't attacking me or anything, it was merely just watching, for me to do something.

It was on a slouched position, its hoodie covering much of its face, only his bloody jagged teeth shows through the light of the pale moon. I have travelled from the city mall to a large farmland before I noticed it was on my trail. I try to get closer to see if it was going to attack but it only growls and backs away from me. I let it be and just let it do what it wants. If it wanted to attack, the last two hours, would have been a perfect opening for it to do so, but it didn't. This particular hunter was… _different._

I sat leaned against some hay inside a large barn I found after hours of wandering about the farmlands. I had just wasted four bullets on a freakin' jockey and was relatively running low on ammo. I make a mental note to find some tomorrow and start a small fire. The orange glow illuminated a small portion of the barn, I stare out into the doors of the barn and I see it on its four looking, watching me. Was it waiting for me to sleep and then attack? Probably, but why make its presence known to its target? It just didn't made sense. I make a spit roast of ducks I hunted earlier and decided to leave it on the fire as I check out the rest of the small home next to the barn. I turn to see the hunter approaching the duck but kept away because of the fire. If it just wanted something to eat then I'm fine with it taking the duck. Just as long as it leaves me alone.

The front door of the house swayed easily to my light push. I step inside and the only light that shone inside was from my flashlight. The place looks safe but seeing the blood trail leading up to the second floor made me think that making the barn as my stop for the night a good idea. I pump my shotgun and head upstairs. I slowly make way, making sure I didn't make a sound on the wooden stairs. At the top of the stairs, I hear something walk in from downstairs, a low growl follows and I know it's my stalker. I pay no attention, seeing that the hunter really meant no harm, and continued my search of the second floor.

I open the first door to my right just as a hand punches the air out of me. I hit against the walls, shaking the entire house in the process, and fall to the wooden floor. My sights began to spin as I stand up and see a large charger looking at me and readying itself for a mad dash to where I stood. I fired two rounds before it charged at me, I easily evade by rolling to the side and fired another shot to its side. It swings its arm and I get hit and am almost sent flying. I fall to the floor and see, just in time, it brings down its large arms towards me, I dodge and grab my shotgun that I accidentally let go when I got hit by his arm swing, and shot another round. I looked like it was unfazed by the bullets. It even had a smirk on its face. It charged at me and I thought it was about my last time, there was nowhere to run, I was cornered into a room. The windows were boarded, the space too small to dodge. I was done for.

I hear a loud growl just as something lands in front of the charger's face clawing away at it and making it blind. The charger stops midway and flails its arms in the mid-air trying to get the thing off of it. I shine my flashlight, which now had a crack on it, and saw that it was the hunter that was following me. It clawed away at the charger's face as the charger slammed itself to the walls trying to shake the hunter off.

I fire another round, my last one, to the charger's stomach and it wails out in pain. The hunter jumps off just as the charger falls, face first, to the wooden floorboards. I look at the hunter and it growls before making a distance between us. I hear thunder roar outside and the pitter-patter of heavy rain hitting against the roof of the house. I start to walk when I feel the sharp pain in just above my stomach, I must've broken a rib or two. I breathe slowly as I notice the pain that was brought every time I took one. The adrenaline was running out quickly and my entire body had started to succumb to the pain. I limp-walk downstairs and I see the hunter outside by the porch looking outwards to the darkness, it turns its head and sniffs the air. It slowly approaches me but before it gets halfway through the door before turning its head again and jumping off into the distance.

I limp back towards the barn and I'm soaking wet as I sat back down near the fire. I'm surprised it hasn't touched the duck and the bird had burnt into an almost black skin. I take it out and crack off the black stuff and start to eat when, again, I notice it sitting just outside the barn soaking in the rain.

"Why don't you get yourself in here and we'll share this treat?" I say. I half-expecting it to stand up and walk casually speaking normally saying thanks, instead I get a growl and a slow crawl until half-way and a firm stop. "Hey, you helped me out there earlier" I said throwing a piece of the duck to the ground in front of it.

It looks down, dipping its head low and sniffing the roasted duck. It takes it and jumps off into the second floor of the barn where it eats the entirety of the piece even the small bones. I let it be and it resumed its watch over me. I'm beginning to think that this guy's my guardian. I finish my piece of the duck and give the rest to the hunter, who happily accepts them, and limped back to the front door of the barn and locking it. If the hunter was to attack me when I sleep then I deserve it for being too careless about the situation but if it doesn't… then I'm not sure what to think of it.


	2. Hunt the Hunter

Guardian Hunter

Ever since the start of this chaos, of the infection, I never had any dreams. It was just a static scene from old televisions, when it couldn't pick up any signals for anyone to watch. My sleep hours usually took about six to seven hours a night and that would usually do me good for the next two days or so. I slowly open my senses to the pain of a broken ribcage, the blinding rays of the sunlight flooding in from the cracks and opening of the barn's walls and ceiling, and to particular heaviness on my chest.

I slowly open my eyes and look down. I was scared shitless and stared at the sight. The hunter's head asleep atop my chest, it wasn't breathing but I knew, somehow, it was asleep. I try to move but its arms were on across my body holding my other arm. What the fuck was this thing? It wasn't a normal hunter that was for sure. Its head was to mine and I couldn't see its face. I hear from radio rumours that hunters don't have eyes and I've never bothered to check the ones I had killed to prove if the rumours were true, it a world where you are always chased every day, rumours are the least of your worries.

I slowly lift my body up and it buries its face deep into my chest that the pain from my broken ribcage shoot out all over my body. I gasp from the pain and the hunter's head jerks up and turns towards me, it growls keeping the hoodie down for me not to see its eyes and jumps away. "Hey, you were the one invading private space" I said before trying to stand up. He leaps off into the second floor of the barn and I walk out of the stable I slept in. I walk towards some boxes where I hid my guns and supplies and find two boxes of shotgun ammo sitting beside the gun, there were some med supplies too; aspirins, bandages and a first aid kit. I was barely conscious from my walk out of the house but I remember never bringing anything out of the house. I hear a low growl and look up, I see it—him—perched on the ledge of the second flooring.

"Did you get these for me?" I ask still half-expecting it to talk back. "Thank you" I said. I know being friendly with the enemy was bordering between the lines of either daredevil or plainly stupid but there was just something different about this one hunter.

It growls, a soft and low growl, and drops off unto the ground. It's still on its fours, I know it can walk on its two legs—I've seen one do it before—but possibly it's just in its nature to crawl, jump and do almost everything on all fours. I slowly crawls towards me and I just stand there curious to what it will do next. We were at least two meters away from each other before it did something strange and fascinating, it bobbed its head up and down like it was nodding to my question.

"You understand me?!" I shout in surprise.

I cocked its head to its side like it was confused whether I had known the fact it had understood what I was saying to him all the time. I nodded a second time and I automatically sat on the boxes taken aback by the gravity of my discovery. An infected, a hunter, could understood what I was saying.

"D-do you have a name?!" a asked getting carried away by my curiosity.

It raised his head, still I couldn't see his eyes, but I saw his long and straight nose, his bluish dead skin perfectly free from decay or maggots. The gesture he made, I would assume that would be a raised eyebrow. I was stupid to ask him that question.

"Oh yeah, forgot you couldn't talk anymore" I say. "I'll just give you a new name then!" I added.

The hunter growls loudly at me, I think that meant _No. You're not naming me, I'm not your pet. _And I'm pretty sure that was the message he was conveying.

"Okay, fine. I won't name you, but I'll still call you Hunt" I said crossing my arms. He cocks his head again and gives a low growl. A _Fine, you can call me that _kind of growl. "It's short for Hunter, since that's what you are… a hunter and I thought—

Hunt already leaped back to the second floor before I finished my stuttering. I compose myself and checked my equipment. He even brought me a handgun, I check the gun and it's fully loaded. I sling it on my belt and holster the shotgun on my back. I pack my things and I shout out to Hunt. He growls back and jumps down to my side, still keeping a good distance, but not too far from me like before. We walk out of the barn, the sun already high up in the sky, and see black smoke rising from the far north, where the mall was, and a sublime and quiet stretch of land to the south. Slinging my bag carefully, because of my injuries, I walk towards the south of the open field, Hunt followed a few meters behind, I needn't to constantly look back if he was following me or not, his constant low growls were the only thing I could hear, everything was eerily silent like it was still the dead of night.

\- Two Weeks Later -

"Get ready, Hunt" I said as I peered through the binoculars. "Two on the right and four on the left. I'll take the left ones, you go get the other"

I hear a growl of agreement and I put back the binoculars, I found earlier the same day, into my bag. I crouch behind some dumpsters as Hunt leaps to the side of the buildings and disappear into the rooftops. I pull out my hunting rifle, another thing I found earlier this week, and aimed at the nearest of the four. On the left side of the intersection were four infected idly standing waiting for prey; two men and two females. The nearest one was a woman with red hair and wearing an "I love Anime" shirt. I lock and load the gun and fired. The silencer at the end made the sound of the bullet leaving the gun to a whishing sound. It hits the infected woman and she drops to the cold snowy streets. The others turn towards my direction. I fire another round and it hits the farthest one of the group, the infected man wearing a business suit falls to the ground. The other two, finally noticing their attacker charges at me. I hear a loud growl from the right side of the intersection, Hunt must be going all out on those two. I lock on my target and waited for the right moment. The two infected were a few meters away when they made the mistake of perfectly aligning with each other, I fire one bullet and it goes through the both of them and they slump to the ground, they were running at me so fast that when they fell their momentum carried their body grazing and sliding on the frost covered asphalt road.

I see Hunt leaping out of the corner and towards me, his jacket heavy with blood from hir targets. I step out from the dumpsters and he returns to my side. I pat him on the head, the only touch interaction he let me do to him, and he growls softly. "Hunt, what to check the store out?" I ask. He leaps off into the distance and I follow him into a small pharmacy.


	3. Welcome the Trio

Guardian Hunter

"Hunt, go look for anything we could use" I tell him as we enter the pharmacy. It was a small drug store with a long counter at the back of the space. There were aisles before, but after the initial outbreak of the infection people had rummaged through the town and left of what they thought they wouldn't use… that meant they brought everything with them. Hunt was idly looking—or hearing, I guess—at the back of the counter and I quickly made my way to a small part of the pharmacy where there were boxes upon boxes of old newspapers and magazines. I search through the stuff and found some old worn clothes, I see the toppled sign at the back of the boxes. **DROP OFF **FOR THE NEEDY. Shrugging to myself, I took the sweater and pants and looked for any spare room I could use to change. The weather outside was starting to get colder and my thin leather jacket won't hold out in the cold very long.

"Hunt, where are you?" I bellow out when I notice he had gone quiet. I hear a low growl and see him crouched behind me. He was looking up, the shadow of his hoodie covering his upper face, by this time I actually had given up trying to get a look at his eyes, he gives a creepy, yet sweet smile—or what I think it was at least. "I'm going to change, okay? If you her any survivors, hide. We don't want any trouble with them" I ordered. He gives a short nod and scurries off behind the counter again.

I see a restroom sign on a door behind some toppled aisle stands. I push some away and I hoped it wasn't lock. I twist the knob and it clicks open. I go through and open the light thinking it would open. It didn't. Cursing under my breath, I took out my flashlight and left it open and pointed at the ceiling, it gave off little light but I was able to see myself in the dark. My auburn hair had really grown long, it was around mid-waist now, I make a mental note to get it cut soon or it'll become a liability in the field. My green and blue—I'm Heterochromatic—eyes were above dark and deep bags of restless nights, the cut above my thin lips was still healing but I'm afraid it'll leave a permanent mark, my slightly crooked nose seems the only thing that was intact or hasn't been destroyed by the infection outbreak. I take of my jacket and tank top and had a hard time taking off my undergarment in the dark. I put on the tee-shirt I grabbed with the sweater and pants and put the rest on me after that. I looked like a sixteen year old, high class biker chick because of the leather jacket I wore with the sweater. The pants felt a little tight and—

I loud crashing sound made me jump knocking my flashlight unto the floor, it rolled and shone on some cleaning products and well… a half-eaten lower half of a man sitting on the toilet bowl. Why hadn't I noticed him until now? The sound came again and I instantly shouted for Hunt to stop what he was doing.

"Who's there?!" sounded a voice from behind the door.

Shit! Another survivor. I try to not move but when the door swung open I quickly grabbed my rifle and pointed it at the man on the opened door. "It's rude to sneak up on a girl while she's dressing" I said.

He smirks and hollers to his friends. Two young girls, both looked like they were just fifteen or a year older, stopped behind him. "Hello" says the one with the ponytail with a cheery attitude. The other girl sighs and leaves towards the counter. Shit! Hunt! I hope he had hidden himself somewhere.

"Let's not point guns at each other" says the man. "You're one of the livin' and I don't think livin' beings should go and pointin' guns on each other"

"I already have someone with me" I said looking past by him and keeping my eyes on the girl with a bob cat style hair.

The girl looks over the counter and jumps back screaming for the man. Shit. The man runs towards her and ponytail runs to the front of the shop and tucks away behind some broken down shelves. The man pointed his gun at the counter and the bob cat runs to the other room side of the shop and crouches beside the other girl. "Wait, don't shoot!" I said as I run towards the man, he swing the gun at me and it connects to my lower jaw. I fall down and the gun, an automatic pump-action shotgun, goes off shooting the ceiling and sending plaster and dust raining on us. He points again at the thing behind the counter and I had no time to react but load the rifle and point it at his head.

"Hurt him and I'll kill you" I said firmly. Hunt raises his head from the counter and I accidentally shoot the gun. The bullet whizzes behind his head and he twirls towards me pointing the gun. "Shoot me and he'll have the perfect opportunity to kill you and those girls" I said coldly staring down the barrel of his shotgun.

"Fuck this!" he shouts. "What the hell do you think you're doing with that _thing_?!" he asks pointing the gun towards Hunt who ducks down the counter again.

I point the rifle again at him. "Do it if you want" I said. "I'll kill you, I won't let you hurt him"

"Jake! Please, I'm scared!" shouted ponytail, she was crouched and holding her hands to her ears. "Please!" she shouted again.

I look Jake in the eye and he drops down the gun. "Hell, if that thing kills you, I'll tell you I told you so"

"Then tell that to my face in hell, you bastard"

He eyes me for a moment before giving off a chuckle. "You're actually a badass" he says. I raise my brow, the rifle still pointed at his head. "Hey, take a compliment for god sake's" he says raising his hands up in the air in a sign of surrender.

"He's not going to hurt you. I promise. But you won't hurt him either, got it?" I said.

He looks at the two girls, they were huddled together at the corner of the store. Bob cat looks at him and nods vehemently wanting to end the frightening situation. "Fine. But if he goes for one of my daughters, I'll snap his neck" he says in an almost humorous manner.

"How'd you find him?" Jake asked as we sat around the campfire we made inside the pharmacy. Deciding to stay in the store for the night, he introduced himself as Jake Muller and the two girls as his adopted daughters; Kennedy, the ponytailed one and Sandra was the other.

"Actually" I said looking back at Hunt who sat much like a dog behind me, munching away at a piece of beef ribs. "He found me. One day, he just started to follow me around"

"Wow" says Kennedy. "That's just… amazing!" she said taking in a spoon of her soup.

"That's disgusting" says the other. Hunt does a low growl and moves away from the group and back to behind the counter. "What?" she says when she caught me looking at her badly. "Was he your boyfriend before the infection or what? Because that sounds like a typical creep behaviour to me" she shrugs before taking a bite out of her bread.

"Well, he _is _a _hunter._" Says Jake who was cleaning his shotgun. "Anyways, I'm sorry again for hitting you earlier" he says.

My lower jaw did hurt a little. "It's okay. I've been hit far harder than that" I said.

"So" he starts. "It's just the two of you? Like… what does he do, exactly?" Kennedy asked.

"He mostly does what I ask him to do" I say. "But sometimes I let him be and he hunts whatever it is he wants to hunt, except to at least leave the other survivors if he did finds some" I add.

"He's cool" she says before turning to her sister who looked more annoyed than ever. "Isn't he?" she asked her.

"Yeah" she starts. "For a dead piece of garbage" she quickly adds.

"Hey, what the fuck is your problem?" I said. She looks stunned and taken aback by my words. "You're the ones barging in on me and Hunt, tried to kill him and then had the guts to ask me if you could stay for the night. Fuck that, if you're going to act like a sore ass piece of shit, I suggest you leave"

"Hey, now come down" says Jake getting in between us two. I hadn't noticed that I was already halfway towards her. Kennedy was already gone from the scene. She was looking at the piles of magazines and newspapers I found earlier.

"How come you're not like your sister?" Jake asks her.

"Because she never had to go through what I had!" she shouted back at him before storming off into the darkness outside.


	4. Out in the Cold

Guardian Hunter

"She'll be back when she cools off her head" he says walking towards the other girl.

"She better cool it off" I said walking towards where Hunt had hid. I found him huddled in the corner end of the counter, he looks like his usual self, pale blue kin, sharp bloody teeth. Nothing out of the ordinary. I look back to the front of the store and can't help but think of the things outside and how alone Sandra must be feeling. _But she was the one who started it_ the inner demon inside me spat out. She was over the line when she crudely misjudged Hunt but I was also out of it when I yelled back at her. She and her family must just be tired running and surviving in this hellish new world.

I see Jake talking with Kennedy, I think he's trying to reassure her that he and Sandra are fine. Kennedy's not to bright, I have to say if I' being honest, but I'm not that smart too with the whole a Hunter-being-my-friend situation. I guess I'm both of these two girls. Jake sees me spacing out and gives me a worried look. I shake my head and walked towards the front of the pharmacy. "I'm going out. I owe her an apology" I say. He gives me a curt nod and I open the doors to a frigid landscape of blood, snow and desolation.

Snow was softly falling down, the light at the end of the street, which miraculously was still alive, gave a faint glow to the area. I see Sandra huddled against the wall of the next building, she was staring down unto the snow covered pavement. I start to move towards her and she raises her head to my direction. She looked surprised. "Hey" I start. "I'm sorry about… earlier"

She looks at me for another second before dropping her sights on the pavement again. "How can you live with that thing?" she said coldly. Now that I think about it, the snow and the freezing weather fits perfectly with her attitude. "An infected out of all things" she adds.

"I don't know" I say to her. "This sit taken?" I ask pointing to the space beside her. She shrugs and moves a bit away from me when I sit down. "I guess I just learned to go with it"

"That thing's dangerous. Haven't you seen the stuff they do to us?" she says, her eyes never left the pavement. "I'm starting to think, I', the only sane person left alive" she says to herself.

"Hunt saved me" I start. She looks up to me with surprised looks before shaking her head and making an intimidating laugh. "He did"

"What makes you so sure _it _didn't just wanted you for _itself_?" she asked.

"Well" I think of a reason that Hunt could have had to not attack me since. But, what was there to tell her? Hunt was special, he isn't like the other Hunters I've faced, even on our journey to this town, we've encountered many like him, but he fought with me… fought _for _me. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"But you're still in danger. Every. Single. Day as long as you're with that thing" she counters.

She was right on that part, as long as I don't figure out what Hunt wants from me, or why he followed me in the first place, I will always be in danger. "I guess you're right on that one" I said. Having enough chit-chat with her, I stood up and offered my hand to her. She looks up and shakes her head.

"I'll stay out for a bit more. I like the cold" she says.

I walk back into the pharmacy just in time to see Jake and Kennedy getting ready for bed. They laid a few inches from each other, Jake had his arms around her giving her warmth. He raises his head and he sees me. I give a curt nod and a small smile before walking off to my side of the store, I sit against the wall near the restroom I used earlier and watched the front door. Hunt comes towards me and lays his head on my legs. He's awfully acting much like a cat or dog rather than the other ones. I place my hand on his head and watched as Sandra entered the store and made sure she locked it.

She sees me and quickly turned her sight on her sister and step-father. I wonder what happened to their mom. I never got ask Jake where she was. But I would assume no one would like to tell stories of their personal life to a complete stranger. I let the fire die out an hour after the three had slept, Sandra was on the other far side of the room away from her family. This girl must have been through a lot, she'd rather make distance to her loved ones than to be with them.

I hear Hunt give a low growl and I start to fall asleep. I hear infected roaming just outside the store, I want to stay awake but I'm too tired. I closed my eyes and the next time I opened them, it was morning.

"How'd you sleep?" ask Jake as we passed by some thrown out mattresses on a nearby alley. The sun was breaking through dense grey clouds. I find the warm rays of the sun a blessing through the cold night. Kennedy was with her sister, Sandra, a few feet in front. Sandra was all solid and focused on what was in front of her, only giving a few turns towards us if they get too far upfront. Kennedy was the total opposite, her head spun on every little detail that we've come across as we walked out of the small town.

"Good, thanks for asking" I reply.

"You know, I still don't trust your friend over there" he says cocking his thumb upwards to the rooftops of the buildings. I look up and see Hunt leap from building to bulding.

"Well, he's all I have" I say. "It's better than being alone"

"You can always come with us. Kennedy already has a liking to you and I'm sure Sandra's going to open up sooner or later" he says stroking the beard from his chin.

"What about Hunt? I can't just leave him" I protest. "And I know what you're going to say, that he's just a monster or something and that it's better for me to leave him" I say looking up and seeing him shoot out his head form the ledge, he gives off his little kind-of-creepy smile before jutting out to the next rooftop.

"Well…" he starts but never finished. We reached the end of our destination; a fork in the road. One led to the south and the other further east. "Here we are" he says. The two girls turn towards us.

"Will you two be joining us?" Kennedy asked. "You and Hunt are coming with us, right?"

"Uh… no" I said. I feel Hunt brush against the side of my leg and I look down to see him crouched and on all fours. "We're heading south, I'm looking for someone, you see" I add.

"Oh" she looked disappointed. Sandra was stoic the whole time. "Well, I guess this is good bye then" she moves away and stands next to her sister.

"Good luck out there" I say as they headed east.

Jake turns and waves. "You too"


	5. Unexpected Reunions

Guardian Hunter

I don't know when I started to have dreams. They suddenly just came to me, like a robber in the night. One morning I woke sweaty and screaming loud enough to scare Hunt, a hunter, to go running off somewhere. The problem with dreams are, you don't get to remember what you were screaming about when you wake up. Sure fragments and pieces cling together to make enough sense, but all I see were hands holding up when I was a baby, bright light, gunshots, and Hunt running, leaping towards me.

I get up and sling the rifle on my shoulder. Sleeping in a bed, no matter how old, dust and moldy it looked, was something I could get used to, but from here on out, it would be open spaces and trees. Snow was slowly falling and it was getting colder and colder. It had been a week since going separate ways with Jake and the two girls. I already miss their company. I pillage whatever there was still in the house and walk out into the front yard. Hunt had returned with a dead cat in his mouth.

"Hunt, ew. You can have that" I said and he growls before dumping it on the ground and leaving it to crawl up next to me. "We should get going, if snow falls again like yesterday, it'll be an inch higher and harder to walk on by tomorrow, it's best to get going—

"Why am I explaining things again to you?"

He tilts his head before doing a low growl, I shrug and we start moving. Half way through the day, we stop a broken down gas station. Three infected were walking about and were easily killed off by me with a bullet to the skull. I hadn't let Hunt attack any infected for a while, I want to feel like I still have a handle on the situation and I won't let any infected protect me like a damsel in distress. I'm a daughter of an army general, of course I need to be tough.

"Hunt, mind go scouting up a mile or two up on south?"

He cocks his head towards me and I almost got a glimpse of his eyes but he moves to quickly and leaps out into the window behind me. I hear him leaping and running and before a minute passed, it was all quiet again. I look around for anything to eat or any piece of clothing to add on my jacket and leather shoes because every freakin' day it gets colder and colder. I need to find him before I die by frostbite.

I find a pair of unused gloves under a pile of plywood, they're a perfect fit and doesn't have large holes in them unlike the ones I was wearing right now. I check the backroom and found a small restroom. A small enough space for one person to be in at a time. I look at the mirror and I see the effects of the nightmares. The dark eyes were clearly visible even with my dark chocolate skin—I'm starting to have white hair?! Three strands of white hair dangle in front of me, their curls only making me want to pull them out.

With a sigh, I walked out of the restroom just in time to see an old man take out his pistol from its holster. I jump over the counter and grab my rifle, he points the gun at me and I point mine at him. I hear snow crunching outside and I know its Hunt, I just hope he doesn't enter the—

Hunt jumps from the window and lands directly on the old man. He starting shooting blindly as Hunt tries to subdue him by using his… hands? He was using his hands to swat the gun away instead of biting the old man. The man was screaming and yelling for help. I immediately knew he wasn't alone.

"Hunt! Leave, now! They're coming for him" I say and Hunt lets go of him but grabs the gun with his mouth and jumps back out from the window he came in. the old man was whimpering in shock and surprise. I hear another set of voices from outside and just before I can crawl through the window, I hear a voice call out to me.

"Andrea?"

I slowly turned around. My eyes started to water, god it hurts to keep the tears in. There on the front door of the gas station was a man, he was roughly around his 40's. He had grown a beard that covered his lower face from philtrum to chin, he was tanner now than the last time I saw him. I wouldn't recognize him now, but I do, because I can never forget the face of my dad.

"Dad?"

Hunt suddenly bursts back through the window. I was scared that they'd shoot him but they didn't.

"Hunter? What are you doing here?" dad asked Hunt.

Hunt growled. I thought I misheard or maybe my mind was playing tricks on me that this was just a dream but I heard him, I heard from his growl a word, _one _word that sent chills to my spine.

Hunt said _Nelly._

Mom.


	6. Resting Grounds

"I thought you died" I said as I walked beside my dad. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and we walk through the snow covered landscape. Hunt was crawling, leaping all over the place. The other survivors seem to not mind him, like he was with them before I met him. "When I got back to the camp, everyone I saw there was dead and the fire—

"The attack took a large toll on us, but a lot of people escaped, because of Hunt and your mom"

"Mom? She's okay, right?"

There was a moment of silence, my dad breathed in deep and exhaled. "I'm sorry, Andrea, I wasn't fast enough save her, I'm so sorry" He starts to tear up and I hold the hand draped over my shoulder.

"It's okay dad, I know mom didn't suffer, but I'm sorry too, for making you think I was gone"

"I never thought you were dead, though. That's why I gathered a few men and headed out to look for you. Cal and Nash will be so happy to see you again"

"How are they?"

"They've been bickering about whose fault it was to let you go alone"

"But I chose to do it on my own, I don't want to be dependent on them too much"

"They're boys, they'll always want you to depend on them. Makes them have a bit more pride and vigor"

Hunt's by my side again, he looks down on the road and then to me. The sun casting shadows inwards of his face, making it hard for me to see his eyes. He gives a low and soft growl before jumping on ahead. I look to his direction and I see smoke from afar. I wasn't wrong, heading south was the best idea I had, dad and his men had set up camp. The original campsite we had was three states away up north, I wonder where the new one is.

"How'd you know I was here, anyway?"

"Met three survivors not long ago, they said something about a girl with a tamed hunter on her heels. I assumed the hunter was Hunt and I took it as a sign of good fortune"

We reach the campsite and the first faces I see are Cal and Nash, my exploration teammates. Cal was the brute force between us three, he was much like I last seen him, a mountain of muscle wearing a fitted shirt and worn jeans. He had grown a beard, dark and silky like his hair. Nash was leaner than Cal but he was still bulky compared to me. His dreadlocks were longer than I remember them and he's still clean-shaven since the last time I saw him. Cal was light skinned and fair while Nash was like me, dark ebony skinned and shorter than Cal.

"Andrea?!" Cal and Nash simultaneously shouted running towards the group to meet us. I ran towards them and Hunt followed on heel. I opened my arms and we three enclosed into a tight hug. I can't stop my eyes from watering, I let the tears fall.

"We're sorry for letting you go alone, that was a stupid thing for us to—

"Cal, stop. I wanted to do it alone, besides, six months of experience alone in the wilderness and I can safely say I can take on both of you at the same time"

"I'm just glad you're back, lil' sis" said Nash.

Nash liked to call every younger girl his little sister, while Cal tried to sleep with any girl, older than 18 that is. They were the complete opposite of each other, Cal was rash and brutish in his actions but carried an air of intellect, he was an engineering student before the infection spread and Nash was gentle and careful but also carried irresponsible thinking especially if I was involved. I love these two, they're like the brothers I never had.

Hunt nudges on Cal's feet and he bends down to pet Hunt on the head. I never was able to do that and Cal just calmly does it. How long have they have Hunt?

"I see Hunt found you" said Nash.

"He's looked after me since we met a few weeks ago" I said.

"You know—

Before Cal could finish, the bell tolled and the other survivors came out of their tents. Their faces brightened when they saw me, I've been gone for six months and the only thing they knew was that either I was dead and infected or dying. The children see me and they begin to run towards me, their squeal of joy and laughter brings a warmth to my heart.


	7. Danger Ahead

_Winter's coming, _my dad said last night looking up at the clear sky. Infected seemed to disappear when winter comes, they tend to hide from the snow and cold, which is good for the living to trek the wilderness with lowered fear but all too heightened caution. We plan to go back to the settlement my dad had made after the attack. It's a state up north, colder region, but it's a lot safer than being in tents and open spaces.

The morning came with bitter cold air. I looked out of the tent to see Hunt going about running wild back and forth in my view. Cal was running laps with him while Nash was helping out with packing up the gear. I stretch out and fix myself before going out and look for my dad. I spot him at the front of the camp talking to some of his men, he's arranging a scout team. Young men, agile and fast looking, lean and quick, that's what they look like as I neared the group. They all look towards me and I give a quick wave of the hand as I walk to my dad's side.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Setting up a scouting route, these guys are the best there are and I'm sending them ahead to scout the area back to Settlement"

"We really should discuss your name for our new home" I said looking at the map. There were numerous red circles, arrows and x's. I spot the small town me and Hunt met Jake and his girls. I wonder where they are now. I spot the field I slept in when I first met Hunt. The map was fairly large with some other landmarks circled or crossed off on the map.

"It's a week's journey from here under these conditions, even without infected chasing our asses" he says as he looked down on the map again. "You must be hungry" he said looking at me.

I shake my head lightly, "Not really"

"Go eat with the others, go find Cal and Nash, I want to talk to them about something"

"Are they going with the scouting team?"

"If they're up to it, yeah" he said scratching his beard"

"Once we get back, you need to shave that thing off, you look older than you look"

"Oh? How am I supposed to look?"

"I dunno, but not like grandpa" I chuckled as I walked back towards Cal and Nash.

Hunt was lazily sitting beside a tree, Nash was sitting from across Cal at the table. "What up, lil sis? You hungry?" asked Nash.

"I am, actually"

"Sit here, I'm gonna grab some for you" said Cal as he stood up with his empty bowl. "I'm about finished anyway" he added walking towards a huddled group of people just north of where we sat.

Cal came back with a new bowl of hot soup and a piece of bread. He gives them to me and sit a few inches to my right. Hunt goes about leaping and running through the field chasing some imaginary thing. I eat through the bread and soup almost immediately, I didn't realize I was _this _hungry until I tasted bread that wasn't stale or had pockets of mold on it.

"Well, aren't you a pig" teased Cal.

I nudge him at the ribs. "ow" he says but his face, smiling and chuckling, said it didn't hurt at all. "Well, at least I don't stink, take a bath Cal"

"Sorry, I just finished working out and hadn't taking a bath" he said sarcastically. "If I could just find a river that's you know, not frozen"

"Andrea, none of us had taken a good cleaning since we left, winter's already frozen the lakes and rivers"

"Heat some water up"

"That'll take time" said Cal. "Something that we don't have if we're looking for someone"

"But hey, if it makes you feel better, once we get back to Settlement, you can take however long of a bath you'd like" said Nash.

"I feel great, already. Oh, dad wants to talk to both of you by the way"

"About the scouting party?"

"Yeah"

The two looked at each other and said their goodbyes to me as I watched them leave. Hunt comes to my side and nudges me from behind. I look down on him and he has a squirrel in his mouth.

"Hunt, no. that's… uh" It's not really gross for him to eat or put in his mouth. "You just do what you want, Hunt" I said returning my attention to the two who were talking to dad by now.

It ended up both of them were going with the party. It was around noon when they left and the first radio check-up was due in three hours before we leave. A lot of the women that joined the search party was left along with the children that either were rescued or brought along by their parent/s. I sat with Hunt by a large tree, he peacefully laid his head on my thighs as I stroke his head under the hoodie. I can hear soft growls from him as I watch the other survivors pack up with the necessities.

"Hunt" dad called out. Hunt raised his head and jumped out from my hands. He's much like a trained dog than an infected. He sure acts like one.

I watch dad tell him something before he goes off into the distance in the direction of the scouting party. I walk towards dad and slung the bag in his arms unto my shoulder. "Ready to go?" I asked.

He nodded. "By nightfall, we'll be with the scouting team. They'll position themselves at a strip mall not far from here, we'll spend the night there"

We packed up. We left the camp, Hunt was a few hundred yards in front of us.

But the danger was just coming up ahead.


	8. Desolation and Distrust

Not a single one was spared.

Everyone who we found lying on the ground were dead.

The women and children were scared, some were crying like the sound of wailing ghosts in the orange glow of the setting sun.

Dad had counted nine. There were fifteen who left the camp, and among the bodies, I didn't see Cal or Nash. My entire body shook from the cold wind that had pushed from behind me. Dad stopped by my side and pulled me towards him. I hadn't noticed my eyes were tearing up and my face was already wet from the tears. I hadn't felt this scared in a long time.

"Hunt" my dad bellows and Hunt comes running towards us. "Go look for survivors" he tries to turn me from the massacre but my whole body wouldn't move. My legs had turned to jelly, my feet, into lead. "This place isn't safe, we need to find a good place to sleep for the night"

"The night? What about the others? Cal and Nash, they're not there I need to go and find them, we can't just go and—

"Cal and Nash will do fine" he says. "They're the best at what they do, we'll find them, I promise, but the sun's setting now and we need to get out of the open and—

I break free from my dad's grip and start running towards the first shop. The strip mall was a U-shape building, I entered the left side, thinking it was just a large connected establishment. I hear Hunt behind me, I don't know if dad sent him to fetch me or not but I open my mouth and yelled out a command. "Hunt, find Cal and Nash!" I shout and he didn't hesitate to diverge from my back and run off towards the different direction. Good boy.

I made a dash, dad was running now that Hunt went off somewhere. I grab the nearest melee weapon there was, a bloodied katana form one of the scouts. I rip it off from his hands and continue on running. This was the largest strip mall I have ever seen. I duck under the broken glass door and didn't stop running until I couldn't hear dad's footsteps anymore.

I was in complete darkness until I opened my light.

Then the stench came. It was horrid, smelled like decaying bodies, dried blood and vomit.

It wasn't a strip mall at all in the inside. It looked like a dark forsaken version of hell that even the devil couldn't stand. Bones littered the ground, blood splatter on every wall, the echoes of something frightening in the distance. The hair on my entire body stood in fright. Hunt suddenly pops up from behind one of the mannequins which made me scream and flail the katana at his direction.

"Hunt! Don't do that—

It wasn't Hunt. It was a feral hunter.

It jumped towards me as I realized that it wasn't my companion. I dodge roll to the side just as it lands near where I was standing earlier. I ready myself, tightened the grip on the katana and gave it a good swing. The blade hits the hunter by its side and it falls back before jumping away from me. It runs around me in circle and I anticipate its next attack.

It leaps, I crouch and Hunt, or I hoped, suddenly appeared from the darkness and tackled the other hunter mid-air. They were scratching at each other, rolling on the bloody floor. I can hear Hunt growl frighteningly at the other hunter, he was pissed. That I can tell.

"Hunt, keep at him" I said running towards the escalators. I hear other infected running towards me. I ready myself as I reach the second floor. The first infected gets a blade through his skull. The katana cuts cleanly through him and his body falls limp on the ground. The next runs at me but I move quickly and slide the blade upward hitting it from the stomach and sliced him upwards through the left shoulder. The third and fourth came from behind. I thrust the blade through their heads easily.

There are still a lot of them coming up the escalators and I don't have time to find them. It was getting darker outside, the sun had set and the last remaining minute of light was slowly fading. I need to get out of this place and continue searching. I hear guns blazing from the outside. That must've been dad and the others. They're coming for me. I need to work fast.

The next two infected were bisected in two and I can see Hunt fighting some on the ground floor. I run from the rest hoping that he's got a handle on things. I need to find any clue as to where the others have went. I find an office and close the door. That should hold for a few minutes. I need to rethink this plan… Oh yeah, I didn't have one. Well, this is the best time as any to come up with one.

I ransack the entire place clean of any useful materials; pens, pencils, mugs. Anything that could damage infected if ever my katana were to get lost in the onslaught outside. It's getting colder, but somehow this place still has a lot of infected. It must've been the reason why the scouting team were separated from each other in the first place. As I search through the office I notice something behind one of the broken filing cabinets.

A message spray painted in red. It read, _we need help, food and salvation. _There wasn't an location just the message. I turned back from the message and continue looking just as one of the windows shatter into a million pieces. I duck down just as an infec—no, that's a survivor! He was wearing heavy duty gear, complete with a helmet. He looked old, had white hair and had the look of a crazy person.

"I'm not here to hurt you, if you want to live, you need to come with me" he said just as he peered down the window he just entered. I can see a rope in the window. He must've come from the roof, but… how did he just knew where I was? Was he watching me?

"Who are you?" I asked readying myself for an attack.

"Those things will burst through that door any second and you're worried about who I am? Just come on, if you want, I'll leave you after I get you out"

"I'm fine by myself, I just need time to—

The door bursts open and the infected pours into the room. The man starts shooting and some infected started to fall. He's right, though, there's too many of them for us to kill. We need to get out. NOW.


	9. Flesh and Bones

**The next couple of chapters will heavily feature gore and cannibalism, if you are offended or weak-stomached to such images, please refrain from reading the next chapter/s.**

**A warning from LeoNyxus.**

"I'm Chris, by the way" he says.

"Oh, now you want to tell me your name?! You have impeccable timing" I say as I slice through the fourth infected that runs towards me.

"Eh" he replies shooting the infected heading towards him in the head. He grabs me by the arm and pulls me towards him. He holds me tightly as he jumps out of the window. I can't help but scream as he grips hold of the rope in his gloved hand. I hear something click and I see a lock on his belt connected to the rope. We easily slide down the side of the mall. Gunshots echo in the distance.

"Those gunshots are from my dad, I need to get to him"

"In a matter of minutes, girl, think about yourself for now, especially since you're dangling off the ground" he says.

I look down, it's not that far from the ground. I can probably leap of from him and land safely. The first of many infected flies out the window we just went through and slammed hard against the ground, her body twitched but didn't rose up, she's dead now. Permanently. It rained infected for a few seconds, some were twitching on the ground when we finally set foot on solid ground. Other were lucky enough to land on the other bodies that they could still crawl. Chris immediately shot them in the head with his glock. I stabbed a few in the neck, too.

"Good workout" he says. "Keeps your joint all greased up"

"How _old _are you?" I ask.

"Hey" he starts. "I'm not _that _old"

"Thank you for the help, but I need to go now, I need to—

"Hey, it's not safe anywhere near this place. This is a Hibernation Point for those fuckers"

"A what?"

"Look, you said you know those people with guns, right. They're in trouble, more and more infected will be coming out because this whole place is like a hive, we need to warn them"

I look around us. He's right, this place is a hotspot for the infected even with the cold weather. We need to stop dad and the others from shooting before we attract more. Just as we were going for a run towards the front of the strip mall, we hear rustling from behind. I turn to see an old man looking scared and running towards us. He was screaming for help.

Chris turns around just as the man neared us. I turn for a second before I felt a sharp blow to the head. My vision blurs, my head hurts like hell and I see Chris fall to the ground too. That old man wasn't looking for help, we're the ones who needed help. I feel my mind collapse and I fall into a dark unconsciousness.

The next thing I remember was my hands being hoisted upwards, forced to stay still by something metal and cold. Sound of metal grazing metal, a knife being sharpen. My sight was still blurry but I knew I wasn't outside anymore, my nose was keener and I was able to sniff out that I was somewhere that wasn't clean at all, the smell was putrid, vomit-inducing, too strong to describe.

My vision starts to clear up and I can see movement in front of me. There's only one light source and it's behind whoever was moving in front of me. I try to move my hands but the chains only tighten around my wrists and it makes it more unbearable to move. I hear a loud thud, a knife hitting wood. The silhouette moves towards me, whoever it is, they have something in their hands. He—

The cold water meets my face and my eyes dart open wide. I regain complete vision and—I wish I hadn't. Blood everywhere, a man in a butcher's outfit was in front of me wearing a gas mask to hide his face. His latex gloves were red in blood, I can't seem to turn my eyes from him, he walks backwards and slowly shows me what was in front of me. A long table made of tiles. It… Oh god, no.

Chris was on the table. His left leg was gone, blood spurted out from the handmade tourniquet. His right arm was flayed, its skin cut off. I don't think he's alive any—

"Please" He said in a croaking and gravelly voice. "Not her. Just… don't"

Gas Mask turns to him, he grabs the butcher knife from the cutting board filled with skin and muscle. He walks up to Chris and with one clean drop he—oh god. I'm going to puke! He cut off Chris' right arm. He screams in agony as blood starts to gush out of his shoulder like a broken water pipe.

"No, no, no. Please, stop!" I scream out trying to pull myself free from the chains. "God, you're killing him, stop!"

"That's the point" said Gas Mask. His voice was alienated by the mask, it came out metallic and creepy. Like it was from old horror movie. "He's what we'll have for dinner"

"Wha—What?!" Oh god no, please no. In my rush to save Cal and Nash, I hadn't thought about where we were, the strip mall was close to _their _area. One of the largest cannibal groups there were and I ended up going towards them… fuck. I just brought dad and the entire rescue team to their death.

Fuck me.


	10. Escape and Nympo's

I was crying hysterically as Gas Mask continues to fillet skin from Chris' thighs and arms. After cleaning one limb, he'd take the cleaver and chop it off, I don't know if Chris is still alive. But I hope he'd dead. I don't want him to go through this kind of torture. No one deserves to. Even this bastard. The moment I get loose, I'm going to grab that cleaver and hack his head off of his neck. I'll make him suffer in pain for what he's doing to Chris. I swear on my life.

I don't know how many hours had passed since I saw Gas Mask. He had killed Chris in front of me. The sight of blood gurgling from his mouth as he started to carve into his chest was enough to make me gag and pass out. The next thing I knew I was alone in the room. The metal table where he was laid and butchered; clean and smelled of bleach. Through the metal door I could hear a few shouting, muffled by the closed door, but enough that I knew I was in the center of cannibal city… or cannibal prison, since they had made nest at a nearby state penitentiary prison. I tried the chains again, the metal digging further into my already-bleeding wrists. I stopped fighting and trashing about when I heard voices through the door getting louder. I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep would be the best thing right now. I hear the door slid open and then there were a few scuffling. I try to peak but before I could open my eyes I heard a woman's voice. "Is she still out cold?"

Another voice. A male's, answered "Yup. Griever did a toll on her psyche, said he made her watch him cut open a man"

"Oh, that guy was delicious. I enjoyed his you-know-what the best—

"Ugh, you're so disgusting Debbie, please don't tell me about your dinner last night"

_Last night. _So I had passed out until the next day. And they had already eaten Chris. Oh god. What did I get myself into this time? I wished Hunt would just come and rescue me… along with whoever followed me into the deathtrap strip mall.

"So, any news about that group of survivors?"

"Nah, said the got away" the man's voice was filled with disappointment. I wanted to just break free there and then to go up to them and shot their brains out. I was seething with anger by now that it was getting harder for me to keep my eyes closed. "But we got a couple of young guys, a black one and a white one"

"Any bet they were fucking each other?"

"Debbie, you disgust me. It's a wonder we're still banging each other" said the man. I nearly puked again. Those were information I didn't want to hear about. "But seriously, those two were packing muscle, they're probably scouts, like the rest were caught earlier"

"I got dibs on the white one" said Debbie before giggling.

I had to risk it. I knew they were talking about Cal and Nash. I opened my eyes just a little to see who I was going to be murdering in the next few seconds… if my hands were tied up. I almost gagged again when I saw them. The girl, Debbie, was obese, she was huge, flabs of her flesh were jutting out and falling over her stretched jeans. Her hair were in tangles, I immediately knew she didn't take showers. The man was the opposite of the woman. He was sickly thin, his skin on his chest showed his ribs, he had a goatee that would scream pedophile in the normal world. He was balding, and just plain… ugly. The both of them were.

"I'll toy with white boy, first before I give him to Griever"

_Griever. _I guess that's Gas Mask's name. I closed my eyes again.

"So, are we gonna do this or are you just going to tell me your plans on fucking the whitie?"

"Oh baby, I would want to do you know, but she's here" Debbie said. I assume she's pointing at me. I didn't risk opening my eyes to prove I was right.

"The pool then?"

"The pool"

An hour later I tried my chances on the chains again. I pulled down on the chains. This time, I was planning on breaking the pipe I was hoisted up to. If it gave—

The pipe did and I came crashing down on the hard tiled floor. A curse escaped me as I tried to stand up. My hips hurt, no wondering if I had fractured something there. I skimped towards the metal table, an image of Chris gurgling blood made me jump back, my hands automatically shifting and resting on the wooden table where Griever had placed his utensils. For a cannibal with a sadistic nature, he sure cleans his things very thoroughly— I slapped myself for complimenting a cannibal.

I grabbed the nearest thing I could use as a weapon. There were a lot. I fancied the pair of sickles hanging on the wall in front of me and a few sets of knives. I couldn't throw them and get a good kill, but it would be better armed than not. Still, it would be useless if I can't open the steel door trapping me inside. I heard another set of footsteps and I ran back to where I was chained up. I threw the chain over the next length of pipe and pretended still tied up. This time, with weapons hidden under my clothes, I opened my eyes. The man came back, this time, he was alone.

"Good" he said looking at me. "You're up"

"Who are you?" I asked. Fear gone from my voice. I was set in killing them all, but I also needed to find where Cal and Nash and whoever they had taken captive as well. It was me against an entire prison of cannibals.

"Name's Kyle" he said with a sneer. "And I'm hear to tell you about your friends"

"What makes you sure they're my friends?"

"I saw you flinch earlier when I said about the two guys we captured" he chuckled. "I also knew you weren't sleeping, girl"

"I'll kill every single one of you if you hurt—

"Hurt? Nah, girl, Debbie's making sure white boy's having the time of his life in her quarters. Black boy on the other hand, I don't know. Taylor took him earlier, haven't heard about him since then"

Anger surged inside me, in the blink of an eye I was across the room and the blade of the sickle slicing through his neck. He was wide eyed and slumped down onto the floor, dead. I was taken aback by what had just happened. How did I move so fast? It was like I jumped up and the next thing I knew I was in front of him, I didn't even registered how my arm moved and grabbed the sickle strapped on the back of my pants. Something inside me feel revolted at looking at Kyle's body. It was a good thing he didn't close the door behind him. I easily slipped out and found myself in a small cafeteria with a few cannibals inside.

Something surged inside me again. I should have been afraid when they looked over my direction and started running with clawed hands and frenzied faces, but something else covered my fear, it was like I was coated in something soothing. Before I noticed what happened, I gracefully swept down evading some of the first hands, I raised the sickle cutting arms in the process. A few screams of agony and I blacked out…

The next thing I knew was I was standing alone in the cafeteria. Bodies littered around me. Looking down, there was no Debbie in the mix. Fuck. I had to find Cal and Nash before I make another move. I've got to make sure they were okay. I threw open the double doors of the cafeteria and my body instantly moved when I saw one cannibal. She looked as young as I was. Fear registered in her eyes and she started to run, but I moved—somehow, gain—faster than her and gripped her by the neck. "Debbie's quarters. Where is it?" I asked her, my voice felt foreign and strange, like it didn't come from me.

The girl didn't answer. I tightened the hold I had on her. Her fingers dug into my forearms but the pain didn't deter me. Again I asked. "Where is it?"

She opened her mouth. Her voice coming out hoarse. "Third floor, Block A"

"How do I get there?"

"Go straight from here" she starts. "take a left and then a right, there's a staircase there, just climb up to the third floor and you'll see a metal door painted pink. That's Debbie's room"

"Thank you" I said before letting her go.

Before she could do anything, my body moved and the sickle cut through her chest, blood poured as she fell down on the ground. Still twitching, she looked up at me, her eyes filled with terror. I did not feel any form of guilt, I turned from her and started running.

The stairs didn't prove to be an obstacle. I was still confused what was happening in my body, but I was grateful that it was happening now, I could have never taken out all those cannibals in the cafeteria by myself. It was like I had become like Hunt, he was strong to an extent, agile, and never seemed to lose breath… then again, he was already dead. The pink door was in front of me. I could hear moaning and muffled screams from the other side. Was I really ready to see whatever it was behind it? Debbie, ugly and obese, in her birthday suit? I've learned about sex in reading all those books in the days I was alone and wanted to pass time. In fact, I had read a lot, learned a lot, and now all those knowledge didn't seem important, I just knew I was going to kill this bitch. I slammed my left shoulder against the door. Surprisingly, the metal wasn't as thick as the one in the cafeteria. It gave way easily.

I stared. I didn't know what to expect. I was just stunned. Debbie's back was to me. She was lost to her doing of going up and down on… Cal. My heart sank. It was suddenly flared up with anger and before she could notice I was behind her I slid the edge of a knife over her neck. Blood started pouring. I was glad Cal was blindfolded and gagged. Looking down, he couldn't even move himself, his arms and legs were tied to the four posts of the bed. I rolled Debbie's dead—and fuckin' heavy—off of Cal. I took of the blindfold and the ball gag. He looked up to me, his eyes watery, almost about to cry. He blinked a few times and he was composed again. "Can't say I didn't enjoy it… but I really didn't"

He was back. Even in the face of cannibal rape, Cal was still his humorous self. Which was good.

"At least she had the sane idea of using a condo— I probably shouldn't be talking about things like that around you"

I shrugged. I cut off the ropes. I made a quick glace over his entire body, covered in blood. Cal had let his body hair grow. I felt my chest tighten a bit. I turned away. "I learned about sex when I was a city over from here"

"Yet you look away from looking at me naked"

"You're covered in a dead obese woman's blood. Can't say I find that enticing" I said. I peered out into the hallway of the third floor. No one was around. I turned and I bowed my head when I saw him still naked and wiping the blood off of him. "Get dressed" I said.

"Help me find clothes then" he said. I peered around the room. Nothing he could use as clothes though.


	11. Cold Blooded Bloodlust

**Bloodlust**. The one word that came into my mind when I finally stepped outside the suffocating room of Debbie and into the hallways and out into the prison yards. Men ran naked being chased by deranged cannibals, some with their mouths foaming. Two women were in the middle of a tug of war, trying to pull off another man's limbs, while a woman—the only woman I saw—cowered in the corner of the prison walls, she was hysterical, crying and sobbing but no one seemed to give a shit about her. A group near the wall where we had stepped out were filleting their recent catch, the guy was still screaming as one of the— Oh god, they were making the kids peel of his skin. My stomach did a hurl and I almost vomited there and then. A cacophony of screams—both of joy and terror—raised into the air. I hear Cal murmuring something under his breath but the echo of my heartbeat in my eardrums had drowned his words.

"Step back inside" I said. Something was rising from the back of my mind. I could feel it, something far worse than what I was seeing at the moment and I didn't want Cal to witness whatever horrendous thing I was about to do.

"You okay, Ann?"

"Stop calling me Ann, you know I hate that name" I turned to look at him. "Go back inside and hide inside Debbie's room. If someone comes knocking, just fake moaning sounds… just don't stay out here"

"And what are you going to do?" he raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'll scout and find an exit"

"I'm not leaving you alone—

"This isn't up for arguments, Calvin, just go back and I'll find us an exit and maybe find Nash, too"

He looked at me with scrutinizing eyes. He was judging the weights of leaving me or not. In the end, he took a deep breath and nodded. "If you're not back within an hour, I'm coming out"

An hour was as good as I was going to get with Cal. I nodded. "Fine"

With that, he turned around and closed the doors behind him. I look around again, it was a miracle that we were noticed at all. The group nearest to us were still bus skinning off their prize. They'll make easy targets, especially the childr— What? What the hell was I thinking? I was losing it, my mind seemed to warp around the thought of blood and gore. My hand moved in accordance to my subconscious, pulling out the sickles and then… darkness. Once again I found myself trying to fight off the darkness creeping in form the corner of my vision. My feet moved, my arms swung, blood painted the brownish-green grass. A blur of movement, knives and spears flashed in front of me, but my arms—my entire body was faster, cutting off limbs and heads before others could notice.

A flash of movements from my sides and my body immediately shifted, a swift and hard kick met the temple of a cannibal, he falls down on the ground. Knocked out cold. Another cannibal comes running from the other direction, my hand drops one of the sickles, it reaches for the knife on my belt and with one quick throw, the knife plunges deep into her left eye, she falls down. Dead. I was like watching someone else using my body, I had little to no control over my movements at all. It was like my entire body was on autopilot, a machine programmed for the very existence of killing. It made me sick.

Blood rained on the prison yard. Countless bodies lay in front of me, some were whimpering as they lost a part of their body; an arm, a hand, both legs. Other were just plain dead, blood running from their headless bodies, bisected abdomens. I was coated in a slick layer of cannibal blood. I didn't feel any guilt or nausea. No satisfaction either. It was only when Cal called my name did I regain control of my body, I turned to him, his face riddled with confusion and fear. He screamed my name again just as my body crumpled to the ground. This time darkness overtook me before I could do anything about it.

**I woke up** in a dream. It was a strange dream, at first I thought it was real, but the environment was different. It was too _alive. _It looked like I was in school. An actual school, students, kids the same age I was were around me, talking, running, telling jokes to one another. It was so surreal that for a moment the dream felt like a memory. Fearful of what this really was, I was afraid to take a step and explore. A voice called out from the distance. I turned to see a young girl. She had blonde hair, pale skin, and the most beautiful shades of blue in her eyes. She ran up to me. She said something, I couldn't understand. Everything sounded muffled, like my head was underwater. I was scared that she might think something was wrong, but my mouth moved on its own. Still, even the sound of my own voice was muffled.

Everything was… darkness covered me again. The school faded, the girl disappeared along with everybody else. The next set of images were of me, standing in front of a large mirror. A man who… resembled me, but wasn't dad, looked at me from behind. He placed a hand on my shoulder and said something. Muffled noise, again. I replied something as well. The door behind us opened and a woman—Mom?! She walked in, her hair tied in a ponytail, she sported square-rimmed glasses and a lab coat, her skin was as dark as mine. She was beautiful… she always will be. She spoke something, the man tapped my shoulder a few times before I turned from the mirror and walked towards her. My body stopped in front of her. She said something, this time I was able to pick up the words _world _and _future. _Those two words alone somehow sent a wave of fright and dread into me. This wasn't a weird dream. This was a memory.

But it couldn't be. This memory, if it really were a memory, wouldn't make sense. I was born a few years after the outbreak. In the memory, I was the same age as I was now, maybe a few years younger, but still. It wouldn't make sense. She walked me through the door and into darkness once more.

**The next** thing I knew, I was staring at Cal who had a worried face over me. His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed I was staring at me. He pulled back, letting the light hit my face. I was laying on a bed, whose bed, I didn't know. But I was certain that we were still in cannibal territory.

"Cal… something's wrong with me" were the first words I spoke.

He didn't respond. Even a nod or a shake of his head, nothing. He just stared. "I was so scared when you just dropped on the ground like that" he finally broke the silence after a few more seconds.

"I'm fine now" I said pushing myself into an upright position. I looked around the room—Debbie's room. I looked around Debbie's room and knew it was real. Debbie was still dead as fuck beside the bed, her blood had started to dry, leaving a large splotch of dark red on the floor. Somehow, the sight of her dead body carried a sense of calmness in me. I was definitely whacked now.

**The night** was quiet. Somehow, the bloodbath had spooked the cannibals into hiding deeper into the crevices of the prison. Only a few were walking around with flashlights and guns. They've brought out their last line of defense, long range weapons. They've must've grown desperate to kill me. I sat behind a large bush near the fence. Cal was to my back, we were improperly armed. If I had a gun and Cal had his sniper rifle, we'd make easy targets of the cannibals around the field. But we have to make due with a few knives, a hook, a lengthy piece of rope, and some improvised shiv's we found in Debbie's drawer. A lot of the things went to Cal while I just took the sickles I already had and a few knives.

Without any further talking, I sent Cal to one of the buildings were its path was obscured from the watchers by the tower's shadow. He moved swiftly and quietly. When he was inside, I made my move. I jumped over the bush and threw the knife at the nearest search patrol. He falls down and before his friend can react, I had crossed the few meters separating us, in one swift motion, I brought my hand downward, the sickle's blade cutting deep into his chest. He dropped almost instantaneously.

The first shot rang out and the bullet planted itself a few inches from where my foot was. I quickly grabbed the dead guys' guns just before the next bullet graze by me. I run towards the building Cal went and shoved open the door. The sight caught me to a halt. Cal was nowhere around, but guessing that the cannibals were still in the center of the room meant he was able to sneak away. They were all hunched, the sound of teeth gnashing and bone breaking told me they were eating… a dread loomed over me, what if it was Cal they were— no, I had to push the thought away. Something was ebbing its way into me once again. I looked away before I lost control again. I turned and saw a staircase going downward. I peered down and in the faint light I saw Cal at the bottom, he looked up and smiled when he saw me.

"It's crazy up there—

I cut him off with a tight hug. "I thought it was— I thought—

"Shh. It wasn't me" he said pulling me into his own hug and patting me on the back. "Let's get out of here"

"First we look for Nash"

He flinched at Nash's name. Immediately I knew something was wrong. My feet moved on their own, a few seconds and I was up on the base floor where the meal was taking place… there on the table from across the room was… Nash— or at least his head. I collapsed on the floor. Tears had started falling with my consent. The tears were momentary as anger coursed through my body.

Something had formed in my mind. A goal. A mission to kill every single fucking cannibal in this place. It was that or I die trying.


End file.
